Thread by @TaikeinCooper

Ok y'all, I just listened to the informal #RVA Informal Council Meeting from Monday. One exchange stood out to me, about the RPS recruiting teachers of color. This isn't an attack, but an effort to add some context to the conversation. Short [THREAD].

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Councilor Gray asked Superintendent Kamras about RPS's efforts to prioritize teachers of color. I'll highlight the importance of teachers of color later in the thread, but it sounded like she was concerned about the legality of the prioritization.

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It sounded like Councilor Gray wanted to ensure that no one could accuse RPS and #RVA of that thing that really isn't a thing-"reverse racism."

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Divisions around the country are recruiting teachers of color. Councilor Gray asked if there were any places where this has been contested in court. The only places where I see articles indicating that it has, are super right leaning sites.

nypost.com/2019/06/03/doe…

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IMO, divisions get into trouble when they post, "teachers of color," but prioritizing the recruitment, is perfectly fine. Why are teachers of color important, especially in places like #RVA?

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"Diverse learning environments benefit students overall, particularly Black students from low-income households...for Black boys in grades 3-5, the presence of just one Black teacher decreased their likelihood of dropping out of high school by 29%." WOW

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Once again, this is all about equity. Equity in practice includes making folks uncomfortable, but it's necessary, if we want things to change. I'm about to quote from this TCI report for a few tweets, in case y'all don't have time to read it.

thehalfsheet.org/post/186475365…

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"Unfortunately in Virginia, many students rarely or never have teachers who resemble them, which has adverse effects on both student perceptions of their learning environment and their academic performance."

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"In Virginia, over 75% of licensed teachers self-report as white, 11% as Black, and only 3% of teachers identify as Hispanic. Conversely, less than half of all Virginia students are identified as white, 22% are identified as Black and 16% are identified as Hispanic."

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FYI, teachers self-report in VA. So these numbers could be a little different....

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"Black students in grades K-3 with just one Black instructor were 13% more likely to enroll in college than those who do not...And students who had two Black teachers throughout this age range were 32% more likely to enroll in college."

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"Having a greater number of Black instructors has also been associated with decreased suspension rates for Black students, which could help reduce the problem of Black students being suspended at nearly 5 times the rate of Hispanic and white students in Virginia."

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"There is no quick fix to increasing the number of Black educators in Virginia...This year, the Virginia DOE has awarded grant funds to assist over 300 provisionally licensed teachers of color to attain their full licensure. But more systemic change is needed."

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"A first step to diversifying the teacher workforce must be to collect accurate and detailed teacher demographic data. Currently, Virginia is only 1 of 6 states which does not require instructional staff to report their race or ethnicity. "

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"Currently, 4 of the 36 colleges and universities with approved teacher preparation programs in Virginia are HBCUs. Yet HBCUs have been responsible for training more than half of the state’s Black prospective teachers in previous years."

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Maybe we can talk about land-grants for HBCUs in the future...

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VA should invest “Grow Your Own” programs aim[ed] to provide a path for...the local community to become licensed teachers by offering various supports such as pro mentorship, financial assistance for state exams, & experiential opportunities for students in the program."

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"By making state investments in these types of programs across the commonwealth, particularly at HBCUs, Virginia would be taking more concrete steps toward its goal of diversifying the educator pipeline."

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I want to highlight the Call Me MISTER Program. The only institution with the Program in VA is at @longwoodu. This program is at LU because of the leadership of Dr. Deneese Jones!

I'm happy to introduce anyone to the Director, Dr. Maurice Carter.

We need more of this!

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@longwoodu "With Virginia ranking below the national average for teacher pay, these reform efforts should be accompanied with significant raises in teacher salaries."

If you study other education systems, they treat their teachers completely different than we do in America.

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@longwoodu "Black instructors...are more likely to have greater student debt, which contributes to greater dissatisfaction with their salary compared to white educators."

So to be clear, we need to recruit teachers of color and we need to pay them well.

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@longwoodu We also need to talk about teacher burnout, specifically among teachers of color. Why?

Oftentimes, teachers of color are expected to serve as disciplinarians and translators in schools.

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@longwoodu Teacher diversity, or lack thereof, has been studied in VA.

We actually had a Taskforce on Diversifying Virginia's Educator Pipeline.

Check out their report here:

education.virginia.gov/media/governor…

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@longwoodu As we continue to hear folks talk about equity, tell them that putting it into practice will make some folks uncomfortable. And that's ok.

That's how we progress.

[END]

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